Attorney says George David never threatened Beaver Countian blogger John Paul

The preliminary hearing for Beaver County Sheriff George David has been delayed while state court officials look for a suitable judge to hear the case in which he's charged with threatening to cut off the hands of a political campaign worker and pulling a gun on a blogger.

President Judge John McBride has barred any district judges in the county from hearing David's case. The Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts hopes to assign an out-of-county judge for the hearing, which has been pushed back to April 29.

"I've known Sheriff David for years. I will tell you Sheriff David has never acted in any way -- he's definitely someone who's strongly opinionated about what he wants to do, but he wouldn't do that," said David's lawyer, Myron Sainovich.

David has not commented, aside from denying that he threatened anyone. He is free on an unsecured $50,000 bond and is still on the job while he faces misdemeanor charges of terroristic threats, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, official oppression and intimidating a witness.

David, of Aliquippa, had been the subject of a grand jury investigation after claims that he threatened a campaign volunteer, saying he would "cut (the man's) hands off and eat them," according to the Attorney General's Office. (MORE: Read the full text of the grand jury presentment.)

"I can tell you right now that the sheriff was referring to himself, before he would ever shake hands with that individual. I think that's what he meant," Sainovich said. "He would cut off his own hand and eat his own hand before he shook hands with the guy."

The grand jury presentment also says David took his gun out of its holster and threatened John Paul, a writer for The Beaver Countian, in front of two deputies inside George's office, with the door closed.

According to the presentment, David was angry with a Beaver County Times reporter and the county prothonotary when he said, "If I knew I was going to die today, I would blow their (expletive) brains out," and then told Paul, "You start writing (expletive) like this and I'll blow your (expletive) brains out too."

"If you look at the charges there, and the individuals who are making these allegations, I think I can leave it at that," Sainovich said. "John Paul -- he's a blogger, he's not media, because he doesn't have any editors to oversee what he does. He had asked the sheriff for some help -- I'm not going to discuss that now -- but as soon as that happened, then he started writing. No, he did not pull a gun. No, he didn't threaten."Paul has not returned WTAE's calls and messages seeking comment.

"It's not enough for law enforcement officers to simply abide by the law. They must also set a good example for others. Sheriff David failed on both," Attorney General Kathleen Kane said in a written statement.